A carport fire at a San Jose condo complex damaged three vehicles belonging to one resident and sent enough heat toward her home to crack a window. Debra Bayerd-Ramsey described the damage to ABC7 News after the early-morning blaze on Friday, October 23.
About 20 vehicles were damaged at the New Horizon condominiums off Almaden Road. By daylight, one of Bayerd-Ramsey’s vehicles was charred, with its windows blown out.
“The bumper’s melted, the lights are melted. So I don’t know. I’m hoping that they’ll be salvageable,” she told the station.
San Jose Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Herrera told ABC7 that residents did not need to evacuate. The damage centered on carport and vehicle areas between two separate complexes, though heat also damaged vehicles across a fence. No injuries were reported.
At the Carport
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A Csmeadphotography fire-scene account shared through San Jose Fire Fighters placed the response near Shadow Run Drive and Stonegate Circle. Engine 3 arrived to find more than 10 vehicles, a large carport, and a fence burning.
The response grew to a second alarm as firefighters laid out hose lines and worked to reach the flames. That account put the number of damaged vehicles at 23, compared with ABC7’s estimate of about 20.
Bayerd-Ramsey said several loud explosions woke her as the fire spread through the parking area. “There’s like 3 or 4 big booms, and it just spread really, really fast,” she told ABC7.
Neighbor Lisa Walker also described the view outside. “It just looked like a ball of flames,” she told ABC7. She recalled seeing flames and smoke in the air, along with debris flying through the air.
“I’m just glad that we’re all alive because of the blasts and everything. It was very, very scary,” Bayerd-Ramsey said.
The carport remained taped off Friday, and water from the firefighting effort was still on the ground. ABC7 reported that the arson unit was working to determine the fire’s cause and origin, which remained unknown.